Theories of Atlantis is a brand that truly defies categorization. Josh Stewart’s brain child has gone through more phases than most companies, first being a means for him to put out his own series of Static videos featuring New York skaters, to now being a full blown distribution house for smaller boutique skateboarding brands featured on this list. Josh also puts out a line of soft goods with the turn of every season, playing off conspiracy theory style graphics and imagery on staple items like zip hoodies and long sleeves.
Skateboarding during the 1990s became dominated by street skateboarding. Most boards are about 7 1⁄4 to 8 inches (180 to 200 mm) wide and 30 to 32 inches (760 to 810 mm) long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane, with hardness (durometer) approximately 99A. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheels' inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid-1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid '90s.[42]
The 18 has made some moves over the past few years that have shown they’re not a bunch of old hesh dudes that piled out and are just holding onto their stronghold with guys who are all about tattoos and brews. They collabed with Supreme and had one of their legends, Andy Roy, model the lookbook, and also put out Destination Unknown, a full video about their vagabond travels in the hunt for anything to skate. Most recently, they released What’s Up Monkey?, an all iPhone full-length video shot all across the world.
Krux make some great trucks. Krux makes "downlows" trucks, that have a lower hanger and kingpin than even Grind King. However, you will need a hex tool to adjust them. The Krux IIIs with Topless System are even lighter, with special bushings that feel broken in from the start, but that also provide a faster snap back into position. Krux trucks are light and low.
Signature Sick Graphics – bLind initially used a grim reaper as their signature design. Today, they still use the grim reaper along with several other skull graphics. Decks are often released with sick graphics of flame engulfed skulls, high detailed grim reapers or graffiti blocks. The graphics used on bLind decks are one of a kind masterpieces that loudly display the bLind company message.
There are a lot of good skateboard brands out there. For a start, you can check out this list of Top Skateboard Deck Brands, but there are piles of other brands out there that are great. There are local brands, brands from other countries, and brands that you or I have never heard of. Aside from a skateboard company's reputation for quality and good design, a brand is also a brand; that is, it comes with its own character and cred. You might like a brand simply for what it represents, whether that's the company's attitude or its team or its presence at the skate park. The first step in choosing a brand is getting out there and seeing what's available.
This past year, they dropped the insant classic VHS series of decks, playing off of the nostalgia of old blank VHS tapes used to film back in the 90’s, creating a high demand for restocks in skate shops across the world. This series almost singlehandedly brought them back in the forefront of skating to the world beyond New York, and we can only wait to see what they’ll do next.
Buying a complete skateboard from a good brand is when you purchase an already put together board that comes with a deck, the tape already applied, the wheels, the trucks, and the bearings all screwed in. You can also make custom requirements for your complete skateboard like interchanging different trucks or bearings to better fit your own personal style of skating.
Following Jason Dill and AVE leaving long time sponsors Alien Workshop back in 2013, Dill’s 13-year-old Fucking Awesome brand, which was formerly a clothing brand, became a board brand and began to add riders such as Dylan Rieder (RIP), Gino Iannucci, Jason Dill, Kevin Bradley, Nakel Smith, Sean Pablo, Sage Elsesser, Tyshawn Jones and Aiden Mackey.
Choosing a skateboard deck can be approached in a few different ways: you can choose your board based off the graphic, the brand, the shape, the width, or even the color. For most skateboarders, it’s a combination of all these factors, but if you’ve never skateboarded before, you may not know what shape, width, or brand you like best. In this case, choosing your favorite graphic would make total sense.

One European brand steady killing the game is France’s own Magenta. What Palace is for London, Magenta is for Paris, representing what it means to make do with skating in a place where you will literally get kicked out of everywhere just for riding on your board. With a recent collaboration with adidas, Magenta has shown they can turn their niche image into something with mass appeal, so long as the world will pay attention. Skateboarders already know the brand for their quick-footed style of skating and their unique illustration style, but they should know Magenta for their conscious effort to make sure we all are enjoying the pleasure and the freedom skateboarding brings.

Top Skateboards come from companies such as Blind Skateboards. Professional skateboarder Mark Gonzales founded the brand and it was launched in 1989. Today, products are distributed by Dwindle Distribution. The brand is intended for serious, hardcore skateboarders. It has an emphasis and an appreciation for the graphics used for its decks. In the early 1990s, Blind Skateboards set itself apart from other skateboard brands by creating videos. Their first, directed by Spike Jonze, appeared in 1991. You can get completes at Blind that includes the decks, wheels, trucks, and bearings. The Blind Team is professional skateboarders Cody McEntire, TJ Rogers, Kevin Romar, Sewa Kroetkov, Morgan Smith, Sam Beckett, Micky Papa, Yuto Horigome, and Jason Thurtle.
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There’s a bit of self-induced CONFUSION with Kryptonics inc. When they first came out, they made, literally, a Revolutionary Wheel, one that BOUNCED. That resilience made them VERY Fast on rougher surfaces, and perhaps even stickier (for a given hardness) than other wheels. You can buy that type of wheel (as a ‘Re-Issue’ “C-Series” in 55,60,65,70+75 mm sizes) now, and it’s STILL HIGH QUALITY, FAST, + STICKY! Even by today’s ‘longboard Race’ criteria, these are wheels to be reckoned with.
Grip tape adds additional assurance for a rider's feet. It is made from a sheet of colored paper or fabric with adhesive on one side and a fine, sand paper surface on the other. Applied to the top surface of a skateboard, grip tape gives a person's feet an improved grip while maintaining stability for performing tricks. Skateboard trucks connect both the wheels and ball bearings to the deck and are directly attached to the deck themselves. They are usually constructed from aluminum alloy. The wheels are mounted to their axles via steel bearings. The wheels are made from polyurethane and available in a range of different shapes and sizes to suit most any skill level.

Alien Workshop is a Dayton, Ohio based company, established by Chris Carter, Neil Blender and Mike Hill in 1990. They have gone through several ownership changes, including a period of being owned and operated by Burton Snowboards, but have persevered and become one of the top skateboard brands today. Alien Workshop has faced several turbulent challenges with varying outcomes, however they have remained dedicated to providing a high quality, yet also affordable boards. We like Alien Workshop for their innovative designs and conscience effort to make a great board, that many can afford. Their high quality boards has allowed them to become one of the best rated skateboard brands today.

This past year, they dropped the insant classic VHS series of decks, playing off of the nostalgia of old blank VHS tapes used to film back in the 90’s, creating a high demand for restocks in skate shops across the world. This series almost singlehandedly brought them back in the forefront of skating to the world beyond New York, and we can only wait to see what they’ll do next.
It’s best to not go overboard with spending a lot of cash on your first skateboard. After all, it will take a lot of beating, and will surely be reduced to looking like a scratched plank of wood! Best skateboards to learn on include budget, beginner skateboards that offer you all the quality features a more expensive skateboard would, but at a lower expense. If you are new to skateboarding, it’s also recommended to get a skateboard with smaller wheels, since they go slower and are less intimidating!

This article is about regular street skateboards. They are rounded on both ends and curved upwards. Sometimes beginners are confused by longboards that are much larger and irregularly shaped or cruiser board that can be very small. I just wanted to clarify this point, as this article is very helpful for choosing the best skateboard for beginners, but may provide incorrect or unimportant information if you are actually looking for longboards or cruisers.

You can get a lot of advice (and maybe too many opinions) from fellow skaters. Some of it might not be as informed or educated as a shop owner's (and some might be flat-out bad advice), but it should at least be sincere! If you don't have a local skate park, or are too uncomfortable to walk up to people and ask, you can also ask around on a skateboarding forum. People there will be more than happy to tell you what they think about deck brands.

Lovenskate have produced a number of full-length videos throughout the 16 years of their existence, including the 2015 release Lovenskate – Smorgas’board although more recently they have followed the direction of skate media in general and concentrated on releasing shorter, rider-specific clips such as Jordan Thackeray’s Welcome clip and more recently the Batch Capture series.

Toy Machine is an Ed Templeton company and one of the best skateboard companies of its time. Ed is an Orange County original skater and developed the board he wanted to skate on, thus creating the Toy Machine Brand. Though the Toy Machine team has seen many changes, it has always held onto professional skaters that can provide insight in the latest needs of boards. Toy Machine skateboards are known for their signature monster graphics, which have made them a top skateboard brand.
Omar Salazar suffered a bad knee injury recently and was sidelined from skating, allowing him to refocus his energy into running his company, Doomsayers. Following the demise of Alien Workshop and facing an uncertain future in the industry, Omar decided to really focus on a brand whose image is not shy about its disdain for corporate greed, which many people blame for the demise of his long time sponsor.

You seem to love Toy Machine deep in your heart! Ed Tempelton’s brand did well this year and landed four places above last year’s ranking. In addition to many other exhilarating designs, the Turtles deck series was the most acclaimed one. The quality is proven by team riders such as Leo Romero, Collin Provost, Daniel Lutheran and Co. You can get your Toy Machine deck from 59.99 € | 50.00 GBP!

POSITIV has begun to gain some serious momentum in the past years. They released an entire line of team completes in sizes ranging from 7.5-8.0″ at very affordable prices. This specific deck is 7.75″ so it is a comfortable size for all ages and weights. The great thing about this board is that it includes MiniLogo bearings and other pro brand parts. The deck also uses a rare waterproof sealant and slide coat to ensure that the deck lasts longer and slides smoother than other skateboards on the market. The overwhelmingly “positive” (no pun intended) reviews speak for themselves with this skateboard.
The World Industries logo used to be the marker of a diehard skater, but recently it's gotten into the children's skateboard market too. Because of the brand's long history and trusted reputation in the skateboard community at large, the boards are generally good quality. However, remember that the brand usually caters to hardcore skaters; some parents may not approve of some of the brand's imagery.

The Element Quadrant #14 board is 8-inches wide and 31.75-inches long, from nose to tail. This deck features a bare top that needs grip tape and a design on the bottom with four quadrants featuring the Element symbol in alternating red and black backgrounds. The wheelbase between the trucks is just over 14 inches while the nose is 7 inches and the tail is 6.325.

These films have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth, depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman's competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the "stereotypical" skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Gleaming the Cube, a 1989 movie starring Christian Slater as a skateboarding teen investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother, was somewhat of an iconic landmark to the skateboarding genre of the era.[citation needed] Many well-known skaters had cameos in the film, including Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, where Mullen served as Slater's stunt double.

The wheelbase of a skateboard deck is the distance between the centers of the inner most truck mounting holes. This distance ranges between 13.5 to 16 inches and is generally proportional to the deck length on standard popsicle decks. Some specially shaped boards and cruiser decks have differing length/wheelbase ratios. Wheelbase can impact stability and turning radius, but the effect is often subtle and not a major concern for a beginner.

In the past decade, I have begun seeing the emergence of skate decks being totally or partially made from carbon fiber or other metal materials instead of solely wood. These decks typically last longer than regular wooden decks and aren’t prone to chipping or breaking like most made from wood. The drawback to these materials is that they tend to feel “stiffer” than traditional wooden decks and experienced skaters may feel they are heavier and harder to do tricks on. Carbon fiber decks are also more expensive, but this additional cost may be worth it if you tend to break decks easily. Some brands also offer warranties against breakage under normal conditions for carbon fiber decks if you are worried about breakage.

FTC was cool before there were skate and hype blogs around to tell you that they were cool. Mastermind Kent Uyehara built his brand from the back of a sporting goods shop into an international symbol of cool, with franchise locations in Sacramento, Tokyo, and Barcelona. FTC isn't just the go-to spot for skate gear in those cities-it's a full-blown brand that any skater would be proud to wear.

Velocity Boards Retro Skateboards is a complete 22″ Banana Skateboard. It includes 6″ Lightweight Aluminum Trucks, High-Speed ABEC-7 Bearings, High-Quality Wheels & Bushings and Hardware. It has a Unique Textured Waffle Pattern on Deck and is designed for Maximum Grip. The Deck measures about 22 x 6 x 4″. It has a 6″ Truck Axle and a 3″ Truck Hanger. It has a maximum weight capacity of 176 lbs. (80 kgs.). It is great for all skaters who are 6 years old and above. It has an Amazon rating of 4.7.
Make no mistake, not all European skate brands are provincial microcosms. Cliché has one of the most stacked teams in the industry, including the Australian master of pop Andrew Brophy and manual wizard Joey Brezinski. But the real star of the squad is Frenchman Lucas Puig, who has a stellar signature shoe for adidas, and an upcoming line of caps called Hélas that you will undoubtedly be hearing more about in the near future. Team aside, thanks to strong art direction, a prolific video program, and a highly covetable product offering that includes a dope collab with NYC mainstay DQM, Cliché is très ill.
SkateXS is a very popular brand among parents that have kids that are enthusiastic about skating. They have a variety of skateboards, plenty of color choices and even add a name tag of your child on the grip tape. This helps the child feel like they have full control over the board and its development. This, in turn, will make them treasure it more.
After expanding from a successful board brand featuring Pontus’s own art and photography, the brand grew into making a high quality line of apparel that borders between athletic wear and traditional skate style. Over the last couple of years, Polar dropped jerseys and polos in high quality athletic materials, collabed with Converse on a couple of Chuck Taylors, and always kept a steady stock of their classic heavy chinos and hoodies, building up a brand you could literally rock head-to-toe.
It’s a beautifully designed affordable skateboard that provides an optimum ride for both amateurs and pro riders. Its high-rebound, hand-cast polyurethane wheels are built to deliver best roll and grip during an action. Its 7.625 inches wide and 31.625 inches long top board offers ample grip and stable ride for the beginners who are still learning to stand while riding without any fear of slipping off the board. Its colorful screen-printed bottom lets you ride in style. It is built to meet demanding specifications.
It is a mini-cruiser, which is known for its strength as well as its ability to offer real value for the money you spent. This skateboard can also be expected to deliver an impressive performance – thanks to the Abec 7 skatro bearings used in it. There are also 59-mm urethane wheels and the 3-inch GOLD aluminum trucks that can help smoothen each ride.
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Efforts have been taken to improve recognition of the cultural heritage as well as the positive effects of encouraging skateboarding within designated spaces. In 2015, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., hosted an event at which skateboarders accompanied by music did tricks on a ramp constructed for a festival of American culture.[68] The event was the climax of a ten-day project that transformed a federal institution formerly off-limits to the skateboarding community into a platform for that community to show its relevance through shared cultural action in a cultural common space.[69]
Fox and Deacon re-branded Deathbox in 1991 as Flip skateboards and announced the four man team as consisting of Geoff Rowley, Rune Glifberg, Andy Scott and Tom Penny. After nearly being put out of business when a flood destroyed much of their stock, Fox, Deacon and the four team riders began to plan their move from the UK to Huntington Beach, California in order for the brand to grow further.